Violence at High Noon

(18) 99min

(Yume DVD retail)

THRILLER

In his films from the 1960s Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima (In the Realm of the Senses, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence) often seemed to be putting his entire nation on the analyst’s couch. In Violence at High Noon he analyses serial killing and failed social collectives through the killing spree of Eisuke (Kei Sato). The protagonist becomes increasingly secondary as Oshima focuses on the motives that may lie behind the unfolding events. Still loved by his wife Matsuko (Akiko Koyama), and also lover Shino (Saeda Kawagushi), Eisuke’s troubles are unravelled through a series of flashbacks, all marked by a sense of frustration and compromise. Oshima constantly wrong foots the viewer with unannounced shifts in time and space, odd camera placement and theatrical distraction. Released here for the first time in the UK, Violence at High Noon is a film of enquiring freshness. Minimal extras.